Phillies ace Roy Halladay went seven innings in another fine effort on Wednesday.  But the Phils offense once again provided no support.  Halladay made 2 mistakes, a fourth inning 2 out solo homer to Houston rightfielder Hunter Pence and a sixth inning solo shot to centerfielder  Michael Bourn.   Meanwhile, former Phil, Astros lefthander J.A. Happ held the Phils hitless through four innings until rightfielder Jayson Werth’s leadoff fifth inning homer briefly tied the score at 1-1.  The enemic short-circuited Phillies offense could do nothing as Happ and the Astros bullpen again looked like world-beaters instead of a mediocre group playing out the 2010 string.  Pitcher Halladay led off the sixth with a single and scored on 3rd baseman Placido Polanco’s RBI double for the Phils only other run as they momentarily tied the game at 2-2.   Trailing 3-2 in the seventh, the Phils had runners on 1st and 3rd base with 2 out.  But leftfielder Ben Francisco was picked off of 3rd base to nip the only other Phillies scoring threat.  The Astro bullpen took care of the rest over the final 2 innings allowing the Phils only Ryan Howard’s pimch hit single in the ninth as Roy Halladay was the latest victim of no offense as Houston edged the Phillies again by a 3-2 score in series game 3.

The Phils blew their 5th opportunity in 7 games to gain ground on Atlanta and remained remained 2 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Braves who were again beaten in a slugfest, after losing a big lead, by Colorado.  Having suffered their 3nd loss to Houston, the Phils remained a tie with the San Francisco Giants for the NL wildcard lead.  The Giants also lost a slugfest to Cincinnati. The St. Louis Cardinals remained 1 game back of the Phils and Giants after again losing to Pittsburgh.  The Mets and Florida Marlins continued jockeying for 3rd place with the Marlins now holding 3rd after edging the Mets.  The Marlins are now 9 games behind the division-leading Braves while the Mets remain 9 1/2 games back.

The AP game recap for Yahoo describes the most recent controversial call of the series which centered around Francisco being picked off to end the Phils’ seventh inning scoring threat:

For the third straight night, a disputed call by the umpires was a factor in the outcome. With Jimmy Rollins batting, runners at first and third and the Phillies down a run in the seventh, catcher Humberto Quintero picked Ben Francisco off third base to end the inning.

Francisco appeared to get his foot tangled up with third baseman Chris Johnson’s foot and was called out by third base umpire Greg Gibson. Third base coach Sam Perlozzo and manager Charlie Manuel argued, but neither was ejected.

Quintero hit a two-out single in the seventh to give the Astros a 3-2 lead. Chris Johnson doubled and scored on Quintero’s liner to left.

There’s little more that can be said about this latest Phillies bummer.

Having blown 5 out of 5 opportunities within a week to catch the Braves, Phillies fans must now fear that they will not catch the division-leaders as it seems unrealistic to think that the Braves will continue losing.  And the Phils, finishing out a less than successful homestand, head west on Friday for a potentially tough 7 game roadtrip.   3 of those games will be against the West division-leading and red-hot San Diego Padres,  3 against those pesky L.A. Dodgers and a make-up game vs the tough  Colorado Rockies.

To view the scores of all of Wednesday’s games, click here.

In Thursday’s final, Kyle Kendrick tries avoid an embarrassing Astros sweep and to salvage 1 game from a series where the Phils should have won at least 3.  Kendrick is opposed by lefthander Wandy Rodriguez for Houston.

To view the schedule of all of Thursday’s games, click here.

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Phillies ace Roy Halladay went seven innings in another fine effort on Wednesday.  But the Phils offense once again provided no support.  Halladay made 2 mistakes, a fourth inning 2 out solo homer to Houston rightfielder Hunter Pence and a sixth inning solo shot to centerfielder  Michael Bourn.   Meanwhile, former Phil, Astros lefthander J.A. Happ held the Phils hitless through four innings until rightfielder Jayson Werth’s leadoff fifth inning homer briefly tied the score at 1-1.  The enemic short-circuited Phillies offense could do nothing as Happ and the Astros bullpen again looked like world-beaters instead of a mediocre group playing out the 2010 string.  Pitcher Halladay led off the sixth with a single and scored on 3rd baseman Placido Polanco’s RBI double for the Phils only other run as they momentarily tied the game at 2-2.   Trailing 3-2 in the seventh, the Phils had runners on 1st and 3rd base with 2 out.  But leftfielder Ben Francisco was picked off of 3rd base to nip the only other Phillies scoring threat.  The Astro bullpen took care of the rest over the final 2 innings allowing the Phils only Ryan Howard’s pimch hit single in the ninth as Roy Halladay was the latest victim of no offense as Houston edged the Phillies again by a 3-2 score in series game 3.

The Phils blew their 5th opportunity in 7 games to gain ground on Atlanta and remained remained 2 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Braves who were again beaten in a slugfest, after losing a big lead, by Colorado.  Having suffered their 3nd loss to Houston, the Phils remained a tie with the San Francisco Giants for the NL wildcard lead.  The Giants also lost a slugfest to Cincinnati. The St. Louis Cardinals remained 1 game back of the Phils and Giants after again losing to Pittsburgh.  The Mets and Florida Marlins continued jockeying for 3rd place with the Marlins now holding 3rd after edging the Mets.  The Marlins are now 9 games behind the division-leading Braves while the Mets remain 9 1/2 games back.

The AP game recap for Yahoo describes the most recent controversial call of the series which centered around Francisco being picked off to end the Phils’ seventh inning scoring threat:

For the third straight night, a disputed call by the umpires was a factor in the outcome. With Jimmy Rollins batting, runners at first and third and the Phillies down a run in the seventh, catcher Humberto Quintero picked Ben Francisco off third base to end the inning.

Francisco appeared to get his foot tangled up with third baseman Chris Johnson’s foot and was called out by third base umpire Greg Gibson. Third base coach Sam Perlozzo and manager Charlie Manuel argued, but neither was ejected.

Quintero hit a two-out single in the seventh to give the Astros a 3-2 lead. Chris Johnson doubled and scored on Quintero’s liner to left.

There’s little more that can be said about this latest Phillies bummer.

Having blown 5 out of 5 opportunities within a week to catch the Braves, Phillies fans must now fear that they will not catch the division-leaders as it seems unrealistic to think that the Braves will continue losing.  And the Phils, finishing out a less than successful homestand, head west on Friday for a potentially tough 7 game roadtrip.   3 of those games will be against the West division-leading and red-hot San Diego Padres,  3 against those pesky L.A. Dodgers and a make-up game vs the tough  Colorado Rockies.

To view the scores of all of Wednesday’s games, click here.

In Thursday’s final, Kyle Kendrick tries avoid an embarrassing Astros sweep and to salvage 1 game from a series where the Phils should have won at least 3.  Kendrick is opposed by lefthander Wandy Rodriguez for Houston.

To view the schedule of all of Thursday’s games, click here.

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Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels had another excellent outing on Tuesday, as he has in all but 4 or 5 of his 26 starts this season.  He made one mistake — a fourth inning 1 out 2 run homer to Houston 1st baseman  Carlos Lee.  But, once again as has been the case in every one of his starts since mid-July, Hamels was denied offensive support as yet another mediocre pitcher with an Adam Eaton-esque ERA Bud Norris, along with the Astros bullpen, looked like world-beaters against the lame Phillies offense.  Charlie Manuel ran out of both bullpen help and active roster players in series game 2 as the Phillies lost in a 16 inning ‘Mother of Uglies’ to Astros by a 4-2 score.

This is starting to sound like a broken record; the Phils blew their 4th opportunity in 6 games to gain ground on Atlanta and remained remained 2 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Braves who were again beaten by  Colorado.  Having suffered their 2nd loss to Houston, the Phils dropped into a tie with the San Francisco Giants for the NL wildcard lead.  The Giants again pounded Cincinnati.  On the heels of both the Phils and Giants at 1 game back are the St. Louis Cardinals, even though the Cards were edged  Pittsburgh.  The Mets snuck back into third place in the NL East after edging the now 4th place Florida Marlins.  The mets are 9 1/2 games behind the division-leading Braves and 7 games behind the Phils with Florida 1/2 game behind.

This game had everything; reliever David Herndon going the final three innings because the Phils ran out of bullpen, 1st baseman Ryan Howard fanning 5 times in 7 at bats and getting tossed for disputing a 3rd strike on a check-swing in his last at bat in the fourteen inning, leftfielder  Raul Ibanez being sent to play 1st base replacing Howard,  get this — Roy Oswalt playing the final two innings in leftfield after Ibanez was sent to 1st base replacing Howard and much more.

Over the final six innings, after shortstop Jimmy Rollins belted a ninth inning game-tying solo homer to take Hamels off of the hook, the Phils collected but 3 hits and were walked 5 times over the final six innings and could plate nothing.  The Phils left 17 runners stranded in the process as Norris and a mediorcre bullpen were made to appear as Giant-killers.

I again express concern that the Phillies may have watched their season implode before their very eyes in a loss beyond ugly.  Charlie, you’ve got your entire lineup back and, again nothing.  Isn’t time for a knockdown, drag-out meeting?  Howard was not the only mass-strikeout victim.  Six other Phils struck out a total of 8 times for the game.

Herdon, in his third inning of work in the fifteenth — much more than any rookie reliever ought to be exposed, ran into 1 out trouble.  A single, a hit batsman, a wild pitch and the Astros have runners on 2nd and 3rd base.  Then, whoever came up with the decision to walk leftfielder Jason Michaels intentionally with a hard-hitting rookie Chris Johnson, who went 4 for 6 for the game, up next??   Johnson singled past 3rd base to plate what proved to be the winning run.  With runners on 2nd and 3rd base, a fielder’s choice 2nd out gave Houston a 2 run cushion.  Then Astro reliever Jeff Fulchino held off the Phils despite issuing 2 two out walks.  2nd baseman Chase Utley was walked intentionally to get to Oswalt who weakly grounded out to 3rd base to finally in the disastrous marathon.

For those masochists who desire more low-lights on this one, click here for the AP game recap for Yahoo.

To view the scores of all of Tuesday’s games, click here.

In Wednesday’s game 3, ace Roy Halladay faces another former Phil in Astros lefthander J.A. Happ.

To view the schedule of all of Wednesday’s games, click here.

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The Phillies collected 9 hits off of Houston starter Brett Myers.  But the offense blew numerous chances plating only 2 runs off of the former Phil.  Both runs came in the third inning when catcher Carlos Ruiz led off with a homer off of Myers.  After a ground out, 2 singles, and a fielders choice play at the plate, 2nd baseman Chase Utley looped a single into shallow centerfield to score the 2nd run.  Phillies starter Joe Blanton came up with another fine performance going seven innings and giving up a first inning run and 6 hits while striking out 9 and walking none.  With the Phils leading 2-1 starting the eighth inning, reliever Ryan Madson blew the lead giving up 2 runs as Myers and the Astros edged the Phillies by a 3-2 score as the offense sputtered again in the series opener.

The Phils blew their 3rd opportunity in 5 games to gain ground on Atlanta and remained remained 2 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Braves who were edged by Colorado.  The Phils wildcard lead dropped back to 1 game over the San Francisco Giants who pounded Cincinnati. Both the third place  Florida Marlins and the 4th place Mets had the day off but each picked up a 1/2 game on both the division-leading Braves and 2nd place Phillies.

Blanton retired the next 11 straight hitters after after giving up a run on 3 hits in the first inning.  Then he gave up a single hit in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.  In addition, he singled to shallow center in the third but, being slow afoot, he was rubbed out at home on centerfielder Shane Victorino’s fielder’s choice grounder.   With shortstop Jimmy Rollins at 3rd base after following Blanton with a single, Utley drove him home with his single to centerfield. 

With Madson in the game in the eighth and Astros on 2nd and 3rd base with 2 out, leftfielder Carlos Lee singled to shallow leftfield driving in both runs.  Madson was charged with the loss.

Manager Charlie Manuel was tossed from the game in the eighth for arguing a call when Astros centerfielder Michael Bourn bunted safely, barely eluding a tag attempt by 1st baseman Ryan Howard.  Manuel was tossed for claiming that Bourn step out of the baseline on the play.  Manuel was tossed by the same umpire under similar circumstances 2 months ago for arguing when Victorino was called out for running out of the baseline.

Winning pitcher Myers similarly fanned 9 Phils while walking 1 in his seven innings.  All 9 of Myers’ strikeouts were recorded against the 3rd through 6th hitters in the Phils lineup.  Howard alone accounted for 3 of strikeouts — that’s 112 strikeouts in 107 games.

Closer Brad Lidge tossed a scoreless ninth inning while Astros reliever  Brandon Lyon notched his 7th save. 

For more on another moribund offensive showing by the Phils, click here for AP’s game recap for Yahoo.

To view the scores of all of Monday’s games, click here.

In Tuesday’s game 2, lefthander Cole Hamels opposes Bud Norris.

To view the schedule of all of Tuesday’s games, click here.

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Phillies starter Roy Oswalt was again sharp on Sunday striking out 8  Nationals while winning his 3rd game in 5 starts, and his 2nd shutout in 3 starts, since being acquired from the Houston Astros at the end of July.  Rightfielder Raul Ibanez, 3rd baseman Placido Polanco and subbing 2nd baseman Wilson Valdez each drove in 2 run apiece with 4 of the runs scoring off of lefthander Scott Olsen.  Relievers Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero spelled Oswalt each going clean on Washington in the eighth and ninth innings as Oswalt was sharp, the offense provided support and the Phillies shut out the Nationals by a 6-0 score in their series final.

With the win, the Phils remained 2 1/2 games behind NL East-leading  Atlanta after missing a 2nd opportunity in 3 games to cut into the Braves’ 1st place lead on Saturday. The Braves pummelled the Chicago Cubs.  The Phils increased their Wildcard lead to 2 games over the San Francisco Giants who were pounded and shut out by St. Louis. The third place Florida Marlins dropped to 10 1/2 games behind the Braves and 8 games behind the Phils after being edged by Houston.   The fourth place Mets were also edged by Pittsburgh and are now 11 games back of the division leaders.

Although Washington had a man reach in six of Oswalt’s seven innings, that is all Oswalt allowed.  He struck out 8 while walking 1 and not only was sharp on the mound, but was slick with the stick going 2 for 3 as well.  He led off the third inning with a single to rightfield.  With 2 outs and Oswalt on 2nd after advancing on a ground out to the pitcher, he scored on Polanco’s single to centerfield to put the Phils up 2-0.  He also singled leading off the fifth but was rubbed out on a doubleplay. 

Willie Valdez, subbing for regular 2nd baseman Chase Utley, who was rested due to the current stretch where the Phils play 24 games in 23 days, drove in 2 runs in the sixth inning with a single to shallow centerfield.  4 of the 6 Phillies runs came off of Olsen. 

Leftfielder Raul Ibanez put icing on the cake in the seventh inning following shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ leadoff single with a 2 run homer off of Nationals reliever Craig Stammen.

Oswalt left after seven innings with Madson and Romero putting the lights out on the Nationals the rest of the way retiring the last 6 Nationals they faced.

For more on the game highlights, click here for the AP game recap for Yahoo.

Note however, that Ryan Howard did not rest in this one as the AP rewcap indicates.  Rather, he went 1 for 4 singling with 1 out in the sixth inning.  He was, however, wiped out on a rightfielder Jayson Werth’s fielder’s choice grounder.   Therefore, Werth and centerfielder Shane Victorino, who followed with a double, scored on Valdez’s 2 run single. 
 
To view the scores of all of Sunday’s games, click here.

On Monday, the Houston Astros come to town for 4 games to finish up the Phils’ 10 game homestand.  Joe Blanton opposes former Phil Brett Myers in the series opener.

To view the schedule of all of Monday’s games, click here.

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Ace Roy Halladay clung tightly to the only Phillies run on Friday spreading out 8 hits and 3 walks in seven innings  while holding the Washington Nationals at bay.  Leftfielder Raul Ibanez’s third inning double off of Jason Marquis drove in 2nd baseman Chase Utley with the only run of the game.  Reliever Ryan Madson and closer Brad Lidge finished up with Lidge earning his 17th save in 21 opportunities as the Phils shut out Washington by a 1-0 tally.

On Saturday, Nationals rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg gave up a run on 2 hits in 4 1/3 innings before leaving with an apparent forearm injury. However, Strasburg’s early exit did the stumbling Phillies offense no good.  Meanwhile, the Nationals pounded Kyle Kendrick for 3 first inning runs and 2 more runs in the third while their bullpen held to 5 baserunners over the final 4 2/3 innings.  Nationals leftfielder Roger Bernadina slammed a ninth inning 3 run homer off of reliever Chad Durbin as the Nationals rolled past the Phillies by an 8-1 score in series game 2.

By splitting the 2 games, the Phils missed the 2nd opportunity in 3 games to cut into NL East-leading Atlanta’s 1st place lead. The Braves also split their 2 games with the Chicago Cubs.    The Phils remain 2 1/2 games behind the Braves.  The Phils remained 1 game ahead of the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wildcard race as the Giants split their 2 games with St. Louis. The third place  Florida Marlins moved to 9 1/2 games behind the Braves and 7 games behind the Phils by beating Houston twice.   The fourth place Mets also beat Pittsburgh twice and are 10 games back of the division leaders.

After having won 20 of 25 games up through their game 2 win over the Giants, the Phils have now scored a paltry 4 runs in 27 innings while losing 2 of their last 3 games.  The power outage comes at a crucial point as the 1st place Braves have shown themselves to be catchable.
But the Phillies have missed valuable opportunities to catch up. 

The best thing that can be said about the 2 games is the tenacity with which Halladay held on to the slender 1-0 lead for his 16th win on Friday and the support given in the final two innings by the Phils bullpen to close out the win.  Halladay won his 6th straight game and lowered an already low ERA even more to 2.16. 

After Halladay worked out of mild difficulties in each of the first through fourth innings, the defense gave him support in the seventh inning when he faced a 1 out, 1st and 2nd base situation.  3rd baseman Ryan Zimmerman slammed a liner to leftfield which Ibanez caught and doubled-up shortstop Ian Desmond off of 2nd base on the play.  Desmond had attempted a steal of 3rd base when Zimmerman connected.  He was easy prey on Ibanez’s fine relay throw.  Madson and Lidge took care of the Nationals after that.

The Phils collected but 8 hits in the 2 games with the Nationals, and this with Utley and Howard back on the active roster and a full “regular” lineup on the field for one of the rare times this season. The Phils are darned lucky to have not lost both games.

Phillies hitters looked totally snake-bitten on Saturday despite Strasburg’s early departure.  The 5 Nationals pitchers struck out 10 Phillies and the 43 relievers held them to s total of 5 baserunners the rest of the way.  Kendrick was pounded for the 2nd time in 3 starts in an up-and-down season.  Durbin was roughed up, for the 1st time in almost a month, in the ninth inning.

One can view the AP game recaps on the 2 disappointing offensive performances here and here.

To view the scores of all of Friday’s and Saturday’s games, click here and  here.

The Phils look to wake up their offense in Sunday’s series final, Roy Oswalt is opposed by lefthander Scott Olsen for the Nationals.  On Monday, the  Houston Astros come to town for 4 games to finish up the Phils’ 10 game homestand.

To view the schedule of all of Sunday’s games, click here.

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